This blog provides delicious,traditional, vegetarian, South Indian Recipes from my mother Chitra Amma's kitchen. There are few 'world recipes' as well!
Thanks to Shravan, Pranav, Akash, Tara, Guggs, Shankari, Adu, Dhrithi, and Appa Ramachandran for the photos!

Isn't it but natural that all of us, who love cooking, also have an interest in cookware, kitchen accessories and gadgets? While shopping, we can't resist browsing the kitchen appliances section, or taking a quick look the crockery & cutlery shops. At fairs, and local farmer markets, crowds quickly gather around cooking gadget stalls to see how quickly onions, carrots and other vegetables get sliced, chopped, diced, and shred in a jiffy! At museums we seem drawn to the ancient urns, nut crackers and other early kitchen implements!

Today there are no limits to the evolution of kitchen gadgets and aids, from electric cookers, non-stick pans and even 'Ragi Mudde making’ machines'!!

While these innovations are exciting, it is always really interesting to look at some traditional cookware as well. If you've been reading our blog, many posts show some of the traditional vessels and equipment that were (and are) being used.

Chitra Amma and I were chatting, and our curiosity and interest in looking at old and new cookware, and other kitchen treasures around the world led us to announce this KITCHEN TREASURE HUNT event!

What can be submitted?We invite you to send us entries on any cooking / dining/ food storage utensils, kitchen implements, gadgets, and so on. They can be items you possess, or maybe you’ve seen it at your grandmother’s place, or perhaps during any of your travels. It can be from ANY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.

- They can be traditional, or ethnic vessels.

- They can be new, but perhaps some uncommon innovations. What is common in one part of the globe, is not common another।- so feel free to send in your posts anyway! For example a lotta and dabara is so common in South India for drinking coffee & tea, its not so anywhere else! We did a browse for Japanese teacups, to cite as an example here, and were overwhelmed to find more varieties than we could imagine !!!

- They can be unusual use of equipment in cooking, like the diswasher salmon example above!

It is okay to send in posts on electrical appliances; however the idea is not to just land up with a collection of the latest toasters, refrigerators and ovens! If you think it is interesting for the world to know about, then do send it in!

At minimum your posts should include details about:- Name of utensil/ appliance / gadget- Country / Place of origin or where you got from!- Photo/s or illustration.- A Description of what it is used for.

Of course, you can make the post verrrrrrrrrry interesting by showing photos or even video of the gadgets in action if possible. Include any information you want to share about it – what is it made of? Any special maintenance required? How useful is it? What’s good? What’s not? What make it unusual? Any associated anecdotes, memories or incidents that you want to share are most welcome.

What do you need to do?- Make a fresh and independent post on your blog. Please link back to this event in Chitra Amma's Kitchen.We’d happy if you used the logo, but its optional! We’ve provided three different colour schemes for you to choose from.

- Ensure that your entries and photographs are original, and do not violate any copyrights.

- Drop us a mail with a link to your post at chitra.ammas.kitchen@gmail.com or chitra(dot)ammas(dot)kitchen(dot)com, with the following details.Your Name:Name of your post:URL / Link:You need not send any details or photos, as we will directly pick it up from your post.

- You may send as many entries as you wish.- In case you do not have a blog, you are still welcome to participate. You can simply send your entries to our e-mail address at chitra-ammas-kitchen@gmail.com or chitra(dash)ammas(dash)kitchen(dot)com.

- This event is open till 7th December '08, midnight, Sydney, Australia Time(so those in West actually get almost a day in addition). We will post a round up of all the entries within a few days after 7th December- Feel free to contact us via mail or in the comments section with your questions if any.

So get started on the treasure hunt and take a fresh look at your favourite pots and pans, tongs, grinders, slicers, pasta makers, spoons, and chopsticks, coffee filters, bakeware! We are excited and eagerly look forward to your posts!

Braeg - the event has begun, and ends on Dec 7th. Make a blog post on your entry and mail me a link. We will be posting a summary (round up) of the entries with links by Dec 2nd week.

Pallavi, Sunshinemom - Thanks! Will look forward to your posts.

Sra, Priya - If nothing fits the bill, feel free to look beyond your own home, in the true spiri of a treasure hunt :-)) It would be interesting to see items from other countries and places! I moved to Sydney recently and have nothing much at home, but I am planning to visit the Sushi Joint in a nearby mall, and talk with the chefs !!

Braeg - the event has begun, and ends on Dec 7th. Make a blog post on your entry and mail me a link. We will be posting a summary (round up) of the entries with links by Dec 2nd week.

Pallavi, Sunshinemom - Thanks! Will look forward to your posts.

Sra, Priya - If nothing fits the bill, feel free to look beyond your own home, in the true spiri of a treasure hunt :-)) It would be interesting to see items from other countries and places! I moved to Sydney recently and have nothing much at home, but I am planning to visit the Sushi Joint in a nearby mall, and talk with the chefs !!

Thanks for inviting me Dibs! this sounds unique, and I'll be happy to join in. I think I have something to share:)btw, I'm hosting the vegetarian thanksgiving recipe event, and would love if you could participate to!:)

Hi,I'm having some problems with Gmail (temporary, I hope) and couldn't send you the mail with details of my post for the event.Since I didn't want to miss the deadline, I'm leaving the link to my "Treasure Hunt" post here. Its http://mydiversekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/treasured-cookware-from-my-kitchen.htmlI will send you the mail with details as soon as I can. Sorry. And thanks.

We invite you to participate in the Kitchen Treasure Hunt! Isn’t it but natural that all of us, who love cooking, also have an interest in cookware, kitchen accessories and gadgets? thank you for shearing your post.

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Hello

Welcome to Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

I am Dibs. I am a born Foodie. I love to cook; love to eat; love to feed folks who appreciate good food. Blogging provides me a great way of documenting my mother, Chitra’s recipes, as a ready reference irrespective which time zone I live in. Amma honestly makes the best food I've ever had, and somehow, the anecdotes she tells us, make the dishes taste all the better.Most posts here are written by my mother Chitra. It’s her recipes, along with related reminiscences of people, places and anecdotes. She writes, I post!What started for a lark, has now become a serious hobby, drawing in participation from the whole family. My father, S.R. Ramachandran has started clicking away every dish made at home! Aunts, cousins, siblings, contribute to photos, and ask for recipes.We try to illustrate implements such as utensils, grinding stones and so on from the ‘pre-electric-mixer’ days wherever possible. We hope this will make an interesting read for future generations, on how food was cooked in earlier times!The site is still in its infancy, and slowly evolving, as our skills improve! We invite your comments, ideas, and questions, and will attempt answering them.

Thank you for your visit, and we hope you enjoy your stay at Chitra Amma’s Kitchen.